Marine steering device for ships equipped with two propellers

ABSTRACT

A marine steering device for ships equipped with two propellers having at least one frictional coupling mechanism provided in association with shafts of steering handles for coupling the handles to control the rotation of the two propellers about their vertical shafts to control the ship&#39;&#39;s heading.

Unste States atem 1151 3,636,910 Tsuchiya 1 Jan. 25, 1972 1 MARINESTEERING DEVICE FOR [56] References Cited SHIPS EQUIPPED WITH TWO UNITEDSTATES PATENTS PROPELLERS 1,508,827 9/1924 Valiquet ..64/30 X lnvemoflTeruo Tsuchlya, Tokyo, Japan 2,201,233 5/1940 Johnstone.... ....l92/56 x[73] Assignee: Kabushikikaisha Tokyo Keiki Seizosho 2337902 12/1943 Lakm"64/30 (Tokyo Keiki seizosho Co, Lat), Tokyo 3,266,326 8/1966Scanlon.... .....74/665 Japan 3,275,109 9/1966 Ganley 64/30 X 3,294,05412/1966 Norton v.115/37 [22] Filed: Nov. 13, 1969 3,331,350 7/1967Norton ..1 14/163 X [21] Appl' 876340 Primary Examiner-Trygve M. BlixAssistant ExaminerCarl A. Rutledge {30] Foreign Application PriorityData Attorneyl-lill, Sherman, Meroni, Gross 8!. Simpson Nov. 22, 1968Japan ..43/85921 [57] ABSTRACT [52] U.S. Cl ..l15/35, 1 15/37 A marinesteering device for ships equipped with two propel- [51] 1nt.Cl ..B63h5/12 lers having at least one frictional coupling mechanism pro- [58]Field of Search ..115/37, 35; 114/155, 163; ded in association withshafts of steering handles for 74/665 LM; 192/56; 64/30 R, 30 C couplingthe handles to control the rotation of the two propellers about theirvertical shafts to control the ship's heading.

2 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTED M25 m2 SHEET 1 0F 2 INVEN TOR 7r'uqEach/ya 1&1; JZMMW M 54m V ATTYS.

FMENTED mzsrrz 3,636,910

sum 2 [IF 2 INVEN'T'OR 7/w0 Each/ya ATTYS.

MARINE STEERING DEVICE FOR SHIPS EQUIPPEI) WITH TWO PROPELLERSBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates to a marine steering device, and more particularly to a marinesteering device for ships equipped with two propellers.

2. Description of the Prior Art There has recently been proposed and putinto practical use a marine steering system which employs two propellersprovided bisymmetrieally and is adapted to freely turn the ships headingby changing the directions of the propellers without using a rudder toenable rapid steerages such as forward, backward, lateral, and obliquemovements. However, such a conventional steering device usually employsa changeover device for changing over the propellers for turning the twopropellers by the same angle about vertical shafts while holding them inparallel relation for turning the ships heading during forward orbackward movement of the ship, or for separately turning the propellersby desired angles for any other desired steerage. This prior art systemis advantageous in that since the steering handles of the two propellersare interlocked with each other, a desired steerage can be achieved withthe operation of only either one of the handles, but the system hasdrawbacks such as necessity of the changeover device of complicatedconstruction and its operation for each changeover action.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing, the primary object ofthis invention is to provide a marine steering device which avoids theaforementioned defects by the employment of a frictional couplingmechanism.

Another object of this invention is to provide a marine steering devicewhich has a frictional coupling mechanism for operating it.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent from the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a schematic block diagram ofa ship equipped with two propellers viewed from its rear side;

FIG. 2 is its side view;

FIG. 3A illustrates a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 38 illustrates a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3C is a sectional view of a frictional clutch of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a modification of the invention;

FIG. 5, is a schematic view of a further modification of the invention;and

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of yet another modification of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIGS. 1 and 2 referencenumerals 2P and 28 indicate left and right propellers which arerespectively mounted to the underside of the stern of a ship 1 byvertical shafts 3P and 38, which shafts are designed to be rotatableabout their center vertical axes (not shown) to allow the direction ofthrust from the propellers to be varied. In FIGS. 3 to 6 referencenumerals 4P and 4S identify steering handles for controlling therotation of the vertical shafts 3P and 3S and SP and 58 respectivelydesignate signal generators or generator units of servosystems forremote control of the rotational angles of the propellers 2? and 2S andreceivers connected with the generators SP and 58 through transmissionlines (not shown) are respectively located near the propellers 2? and25. The servosystems are usually made up of synchros, Potentiometers, orthe like and the rotational angles of rotary shafts 6? and 68 of thegenerators SP and 58 are transmitted to the receivers to rotate thepropellers 2P and 25 by angles which are the same as or proportional tothe rotational angles of the rotary shafts GP and 65. The steeringhandles 4P and 43 are respectively affixcd to the upper ends of therotary shafts 6P and 68.

In FIG. 3A a pair of opposing disks 7P are affixcd to the rotary shaft6P and a gear disk 8P is held between the disks 7P in a frictionalengagement relation thereto. Namely, the disks 7P and 8P may be referredto as a frictional engagement mechanism. While, a usual gear 9 isdirectly affixed to the other rotary shaft 65. The gears 8P and 9 areinterconnected through an intermediate gear 10. The steering handle 4Pis connected to rotary shaft 6P which is in turn connected to generator5P. Handle 4S is connected to vertical shaft 65 which is connected togenerator 58. The gear 9 is fixed to shaft 68 and meshes with the gear10 which is supported on a suitable supporting shaft. Gear 10 alsomeshes with gear 8P which is frietionally held by disks 7P mounted onshaft 6P such that gear 8? can slide relative to shaft 6P if thefriction of the disks 7? is overcome.

FIG. 3B illustrates a modification of the invention wherein shaft 6Pcarries a gear 9 which is fixed to it and which meshes with a gear 8that is frietionally supported by friction disks 7 on a shaft whichnonrotatably supports a gear 10. Gear 10 meshes with gear 9 mounted onshaft 6S.

With reference to FIG. 3C, one practical embodiment of the frictionalengagement mechanisms of the present invention will hereinbelow bedescribed. The disks 7? consist of disks 7P and 7P formed of a metalsuch as iron. The one disk, for example, 7P is fixed to the shaft 6P bymeans of, for example, a pin P and the gear 8P is rotatably mounted onthe disk 7P and the other disk 7P is disposed on the gear 8P. Above thedisk 7P a spring SP is disposed about the shaft 6? and is fixed at itsupper end by a stopper ST to press down the disk 7P Consequently, thegear 8P is urged into contact with the disks 7P, and 7P and is adaptedto be rotatable about the shaft 6P. Reference character P indicates apin by means of which the disk 7P, is secured to the shaft 6P so as toprevent it from rotation together with the gear 8P.

If necessary, sheets of a material of a great frictional coefficientsuch as rubber, Bakelite, or the like may be disposed between the disks7P and the gear 8P.

Assuming that only the steering handle 4P is rotated, the rotation ofthe shaft 6P is transmitted to the generator SP and, at the same time,it is transmitted to the shaft 65 and the handle 45 through thefrictional engagement of the disks 7P and 8P and through the gears 10and 9. In this case, the rotation of the shaft 68 is transmitted to thegenerator 58.- Consequently, by selecting the number of the teeth of thegears SP and 9 to be the same, it is possible to turn the rotary shaftsof the generators SP and 58 by the same angle in the same direction withthe operation of the handle 4 only. The rotation of the steering handle48 is also transmitted to the generator 58 and, at the same time, to theshaft 6P and then the generator 5P through the gears 9 and 10, thefrietionally coupling gear 8P and the disk 7P. Accordingly, theoperation of only either one of the steering handles 4P and 45 leads toautomatic operation of the both rotary shafts 6P and 65 to rotate theboth generators SP and SS together by the same angle in the samedirection. This rotation is transmitted respectively to the receivers todrive the propellers 2P and 28 by the same angle in the same direction.

Further, the rotary shafts 6P and 6S are interconnected through thefrietionally coupling disk 7P and the gear 8P, so that it is possible todrive the handles 4P and 4S independently of each other. Namely, in theevent that the handle, for example, 4P is rotated while maintaining thehandle 43 at a standstill, the disks 7? are forced to turn by the handle4P and the disk gear SP is forced to be at a standstill through thegears 10 and 9 in the same manner as the shaft 68. In this case, sincethe disks 7P and the disk gear 8P are in frictional engagement with eachother, they are automatically slipped therebetween to allow the rotationof the one shaft and the stoppage of the other shaft. The rotation ofthe shaft 6P and the stoppage of the shaft 68 are respectivelytransmitted to the propellers 2P and 28 through the generators SP and Sand their corresponding receivers. Also in the case where the handle 48is turned differently from the handle 48, a slip is automaticallyproduced in the frictional coupling mechanism between the discs 7P andthe gear 8P in accordance with the difference in rotation between thedisks 7P and 8P, permitting the shafts GP and 65 to smoothly rotateindependently of each other. Thus, if the coefficient of friction andconsequently the frictional force between the disks 7P and the gear SPis selected to be suitable, turning of only either one of the handlescauses the other handle (shaft) to rotate due to the frictional forceprecisely following the rotation of the former, so that the two handles(shafts) are rotated together. While, when the two handles are turnedindependently, the disks 7P and the gear 8P smoothly slips therebetweento allow the both shafts to rotate independently of each other.

In FIG. 3B the frictional engagement mechanism mounted on the shaft 6Pin FIG. 3A is affixed to the shaft of the intermediate gear and a gear9' is mounted on the shaft 6? and meshes with the gear 8 which is infrictional engagement with a pair of opposed disks 7 mounted coaxiallywith the gear 10. The other elements are the same as those in FIG. 1A.

FiG. 4 illustrates a modified form of this invention in which there areinterposed between the shafts 6P and 68 a frictional coupling mechanismsimilar to that in FIG. 3 and a worm gear mechanism for the one-waytransmission of the rotation of the one shaft to the other. Namely, adisk 8'P, which makes fric tional contact with the disks 7P affixed tothe shaft 6P, takes the form of a worm gear instead of the usual gear 8?depicted in FIG. 3 and a worm l1 meshing with the worm gear 8'P isaffixed to a shaft (not shown) perpendicular to the shaft 6P. The gear 9affixed to the shaft 65 is coupled with the worm 11 through a gear 12and bevel gears 13 to change the rotational direction of the gear 12into a vertical direction thereto. The shaft 65 is connected to thehandle 48 and carries the gear 9 which is fixed to its. Shaft 68 alsodrives the generator 58. The shaft 9 meshes with a gear 12 supported ona shaft which carries one of two bevel gears 13 which mesh together. Thesecond bevel gear is driven by a worm 11 which meshes with worm gear 8"rotatably supported on shaft 6P by the friction disks 7P. The handle 4Pis connected to the shaft 6P.

With the arrangement such as shown in H0. 4 when the handle 45 is onlyoperated, the rotation of the steering handle 48 is transmitted directlyto its receiver 58 through the shaft 68 and, at the same time, to thehandle 4P through the gears 9, l2, and 13, the worm 11, the worm gear8P, the frictional coupling mechanism 8'P-7P and the shaft 6P, thustransmitting the rotation of the shaft 6P to the other receiver 5P.However, in the event that only the other steering handle 4P is turned,the transmission of the rotation from the worm gear 8'P to the worm 11is almost impossible due to the gear relationship therebetween and theworm gear 8'P is forced to stop, so that the disks 7? and the worm gear8P automatically slip therebetween to allow only the shaft GP to rotatein accordance with the operation of the handle 4P. Thus, the rotation ofthe shaft 6? is furnished to the signal generator 5P but is nottransmitted to the other generator 58. Consequently, in the illustratedembodiment only the handle 48 is interlocked with the other handle andshaft, while the handle 4? rotates only its shaft 6P. Further, when thehandles 4P and 48 are separately turned in different manners, the shafts6P and 65 are smoothly driven with the rotation of the handles. In thiscase, since the disk 8'P is compelled to follow the rotation of the worm11, a slip is produced in the frictional coupling mechanism 7P-8'P inaccordance with a difference in rotation between the shafts 6P and 65.With the above arrangement, when the course of a ship is to be turnedonly the handle 45 is operated and in the event that a straight courseis difficult to maintain due to a slight unbalance between right andleft steerages, only the handle 4P is turned to compensate for theunbalance. Namely, such a purpose can be attained with one steeringoperation and without any changeover operation.

FIG. 5 shows another modification of this invention which employs onecommon steering handle 14 in addition to the steering handles 4? and 4Sand the shaft 65 is also provided with a frictional coupling mechanism7S-8S similar to that of the shaft 6P. Namely, a pair ofdisks 78 areaffixed to the shaft 68 and a gear disk is held between the disks 78 infrictional contact therewith and the gear 83 is coupled with the gear 8Pthrough the intermediate gear 10. A gear 16 is affixed to a rotary shaft15 carrying the common handle 14 and is coupled with the intermediategear 10 through a gear 17. The handle 48 drives the shaft 65 whichdrives the friction disks '75. The gear 88 is frictionally supported bythe disks 78 on shaft 68 and meshes with a gear 10. The shaft whichcarries the gear 10 also carries a gear 17. The gear 17 meshes with asmaller gear 16 which is fixed to a shaft 15 upon which the commonhandle 14 is mounted. The gear 10 also meshes with a gear 8P which issupported between friction disks 7? which are attached to shaft 6? uponwhich the handle 4P is mounted.

In FIG. 5, the rotation of the common handle 14 is transmitted to thegear disks 8? and 88 through the shaft 15 and the gears l6, l7, and 10,thereafter being transmitted to the shafts 6P and 6S and then to thegenerators SP and 58 through the frictional coupling disks 7P and 78respectively. Also in the case where either one of the handles 4P and 48is rotated, the rotation is equally transmitted to the shafts 6P and 6Sand then the generators SP and 58. Further, it is also possible torotate the handles 4P and 45 independently to render particular rotationto their respective shafts and generators. in such a case, a slip occursin the one or the other frictional coupling mechanism in response to adifference in rotation between the handles 4? and 48. By selecting theteeth number of the gear 16 to be smaller than that of the gear 17, finecontrol can be achieved with the operation of the common handle 14.

In FIG. 6 there is depicted a further modified form of this invention inwhich a unidirectional transmission mechanism is interposed between thecommon steering handle 14 and the intermediate gear 10. Namely, a worm18 is mounted on the shaft of the gear 17 coupled with the handle 14through the shaft 15 and the gear 16 and a worm gear 19 meshing with theworm 18 is provided coaxial with the intermediate gear 10. ln thepresent example when only the common handle 14 is operated, its rotationis transmitted equally to the shafts 6P and 65 through the worm 18, theworm gear 19 and the frictional coupling mechanisms. However, wheneither one of the steering handles 4P and 48 is operated, the rotationof the worm gear 19 is difficult to be transmitted to the worm l8 andthe gears 8?, l0, and 88 are all stopped, so that only the shaft andgenerator associated with the handle operated are rotated. Further, itis possible to operate each of the handles 4P and 4S irrespective of thecommon handle 14, the other one, or both of them to render particularrotation to the shaft and generator associated with the handle operated.in such a case, a slip is caused in the frictional coupling mechanismassociated with the handle being operated or in the other frictionalcoupling mechanism to provide a smooth operation.

While the shafts 6P and 65 of the handles are shown to be directlycoupled with those of the generators SP and SS for the sake of brevity,it is a matter of course that mechanical coupling means such as gearsmay be disposed between them.

The coupling means for the handle shafts 6P and 68 is not limitedspecifically to gears but may be, for example, a chain and a chainwheel.

Since the present invention does not require any. changeover device andchangeover operation in the simultaneous and separate steerings of thepropellers, the invention provides a marine pilot device which is simplein construction, highly reliable in operation and easy to handle.Further, an additional provision for a unidirectional transmissionmechanism enables any desired operation.

It will be apparent that many modifications and variations may beeffected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of thisinvention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A marine steering device for a vessel with two steerable propellerscomprising:

two steering handles mounted on two steering shafts and connectedrespectively to control each of said steerable propellers;

a common steering handle mounted on a common steering shaft; and

a pair of frictional coupling means coupling said common steering handleand shaft to said two steering shafts and handles such that said twosteering handles may be simultaneously moved by said common steeringhandle and said two steering handles may be independently moved ifdesired to control said steerable propellers, including a worm fixed tosaid common steering shaft, a worm gear rotatably supported in mesh withsaid worm, and a third gear driven by said worm gear and said third gearcoupled to said pair of frictional coupling means.

2. A marine steering device for a vessel with two steerable propellerscomprising:

- two steering shafts each with a steering handle and respectivelyconnected to control said two steerable propellers;

a pair of frictional coupling means each including disk gearsrespectively mounted on said two steering shafts;

an intermediate gear rotatably supported between and in mesh with saiddisk gears;

a common steering handle mounted on a common steering shaft; and

a unidirection transmission mechanism mounted between said commonsteering shaft and said intermediate gear such that movement of saidcommon steering handle moves said two steerable propellers but thatmovement of either of said steering shafts by said steering handles doesnot move said common steering handle or the other one of said steeringshafts.

1. A marine steering device for a vessel with two steerable propellerscomprising: two steering handles mounted on two steering shafts andconnected respectively to control each of said steerable propellers; acommon steering handle mounted on a common steering shaft; and a pair offrictional coupling means coupling said common steering handle and shaftto said two steering shafts and handles such that said two steeringhandles may be simultaneously moved by said common steering handle andsaid two steering handles may be independently moved if desired tocontrol said steerable propellers, including a worm fixed to said commonsteering shaft, a worm gear rotatably supported in mesh with said worm,and a third gear driven by said worm gear and said third gear coupled tosaid pair of frictional coupling means.
 2. A marine steering device fora vessel with two steerable propellers comprising: two steering shaftseach with a steering handle and respectively connected to control saidtwo steerable propellers; a pair of frictional coupling means eachincluding disk gears respectively mounted on said two steering shafts;an intermediate gear rotatably supported between and in mesh with saiddisk gears; a common steering handle mounted on a common steering shaft;and a unidirection transmission mechanism mounted between said commonsteering shaft and said intermediate gear such that movement of saidcommon steering handle moves said two steerable propellers but thatmovement of either of said steering shafts by said steering handles doesnot move said common steering handle or the other one of said steeringshafts.